The BEST Balsamic Vinaigrette

This Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe is perfect. You heard me correctly. Perfect. And I don’t use that word lightly.

The recipe I’m sharing with you today is truly worthy of that descriptor. You don’t think I’d call something the “best” if I didn’t mean it, do you?

I’ve tried numerous recipes for balsamic vinaigrette over the past few years and while they have been decent, they were not quite what I was searching for.

Some homemade vinaigrettes would end up a little too oily, while others were too sweet for my tastes. This dressing has the perfect balance of tang and sweetness, vinegar and oil.

After a lot of experimentation, trial and error, I am thrilled to be sharing this balsamic vinaigrette recipe with you today. I found the winning Balsamic Vinaigrette over at Chinese Grandma.

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

I served this balsamic vinaigrette last week on a salad while we had family visiting us. Everyone who tried the dressing immediately requested the recipe. It’s miles better than any store bought salad dressing and as easy as whisking together a few ingredients.

There’s a reason I consider this particular Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing recipe the absolute hands-down best. The dressing has plenty of tartness and bite from a generous portion of balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and garlic with just a touch of sweetness and honey flavor to balance it all out.

With enough extra virgin olive oil to coat every bite of your salad with rich flavor without making the salad too greasy, oil or soggy; it’s everything you could want in a vinegar-oil based dressing!

While I whisk the vinegar, oil, dijon mustard, garlic, and olive oil by hand with a sturdy kitchen whisk, you could also use a blender if you prefer. Mixing the ingredients with a blender gives the recipe a slightly thicker consistency.

I prefer the consistency of the dressing when mixed by hand but feel free to experiment with both methods to figure out what you prefer.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

This Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing is so versatile, I serve it on salads, on roasted vegetables and drizzled on chicken in a wrap. It’s a wonderful addition to whatever dish I’ve used it on.

There are so many ways to enjoy this dressing that you’ll always want to keep a jar or two handy for whenever the craving strikes.

Of course it also elevates everyday salads into the realm of extra tastiness. Toss your favorite garden salad in this dressing, try it on a Simple Spinach Salad, or drizzle it over a fresh Cucumber Tomato Salad.

Try it on pasta salad or in your favorite wrap for a way to jazz up your lunch staples.

Storing Balsamic Vinaigrette

Because vinegar-based salad dressings like this one have such a high acidity content, they keep for a good long while if stored correctly. After preparing the dressing, pour it into a mason jar and secure the lid tightly.

Store the dressing in the refrigerator where it should keep for several months. Of course, you’ll find yourself reaching it for it so often that it’s bound to be gone long before then.

The oil and vinegar may separate during storage so just give the jar a nice shake to get everything all mixed together again before using.

If you have a leftover bottle from store-bought salad dressing, you can totally wash and reuse it as a vessel for your homemade dressing!

Balsamic Dressing

While this is truly a perfect go-to salad dressing recipe for any food that calls for a vinaigrette, I’ve made tons of variations on the recipe for different types of salads.

Slightly sweet, tangy balsamic vinaigrette is versatile as can be. As a dressing for salad, drizzled on roasted vegetables and chicken wraps, everyone loves this recipe.Recipe gently adapted from and with thanks to Chinese Grandma.

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: balsamic vinaigrette

Servings: 20tablespoons

Calories: 81kcal

Ingredients

2tablespoonshoney

1tablespoondijon mustard

1/2teaspoonfine sea salt

1/2teaspoonfreshly crushed black pepperfinely ground

1large garlic cloveminced

1/4cupbalsamic vinegar

3/4cupextra virgin olive oil

Instructions

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, balsamic, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic. Add the oil and whisk thoroughly to combine. Continue whisking until the dressing is fully emulsified.

Store in a jar with a lid and refrigerate. Shake well before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

If you choose to make this in the blender (as I like to do for almost every other recipe) this will be a thicker dressing. Still delicious, simply thicker. I prefer the consistency of this particular dressing when whisked by hand.

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About Mary Younkin

Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.

This is a great balsamic vinaigrette. It comes together quickly and is very versatile. I followed the recipe with one exception. I reduced the olive oil to 1/4 cup, and for me it balanced the balsamic vinegar perfectly for tender greens.

If I could give this more stars I would!!! This is DELICIOUS. Like-lick the plate clean delicious. I used my blender (because I don’t enjoy chunks of raw garlic, lol) which did make it thicker as noted above, but I prefer it that way. So good!!!

This is excellent, thank you! The first time I made it, I put it in the food processor and it was thick, just like you said;-). The thick version makes for a great veggie dip. Today I hand whisked it. This really is one the very best Balsamic vinaigrettes I have ever tasted.

I made this. Put a spoon in it and tasted it. All I could say was mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Its really good. I didn’t have dijon mustard and used yellow mustard. I imagine it would be even better if I had dijon mustard. Great recipe.

I had a taste for balsamic vinaigrette for my salad tonight and of course I didn’t have any. I came across this recipe online. Not only was it easy, it was very tasty. I reduced the oil to 1/2 cup but nonetheless it was delicious.

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